August 29, 2017

India, China "expeditious disengagement" deal over Doklam

My live TV appearance of 28 August, 2017 on a two-segment panel discussion with Gravitas, a leading TV news program with WION (World is One News), a premier, relatively young commercial TV channel in New Dehli. The discussion is headlined "India Calls Dragon's Bluff".

The 72-day stand-off started with Indian soldiers moving into China's claimed territory disputed by Bhutan. The unprecedented incursion is to stop China from building a road there, which is perceived to threaten India's strategic Siliguri Corridor ("Chicken's Neck").View a PowerPoint presentation on the stand-off.

The disengagement deal was ostensibly reached only after Indian Prime Minister Modi threatened not to attend the BRICS Summit to be hosted by China in Xiamen (3-5 September). The outcome is withdrawal of Indian armed forces from Doklam. China has apparently only agreed to make certain adjustments in military deployments in Doklam. China has maintained its territorial claim and has not specifically agreed to abandon the road-building project.

It's debatable who called whose bluff. If anything, the saga only signals India's growing geopolitical rivalry with China, as evident from the panel discussion.